May 12, 1S63. ] 



JOtTEXAL OF HOETICtTLTUHE AHD COTTAGE GAEDEXEB. 



337 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



of 



of 



M'nth 



Week. 



12 



TV 



13 



W 



14 



Th 



15 



F 



16 



S 



17 



So- 



18 



il 



Weathee NEA2 London IS 1362. 



MAY 12— IS, 1863. 



Helleborine flowers. 

 Tilli died. 1740. B. 

 Ascension. Holt Thcrsdat. 

 Bryony flowers. 

 Cotton-grass flowers. 

 Sunday aftee Ascension. 

 Purslane flowers. 



H9.866— 29.572 

 29.858-29.836 

 29.866— 29.S50 

 29.889—29.756 

 29.908-29.813 

 80.100—36.045 

 30.113-30.009 



Thermom. Wind. 



decrees. 

 61—39 

 61-33 

 57 — 42 

 60—46 

 67—40 

 76—41 

 80-42 



E. 

 N.E. 



N.E. 

 S.W. 



s.w. 

 s.w. 

 x.w. 



Rain in 

 Inches. 



Son 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 



Rises Moon's 

 and Seta, Age. 



Clock 



after Day of 



S-un. Tear. 



.13 

 .46 



m. h. 

 loaf 4 

 14 

 12 

 11 



9 



8 



6 



m. h. 

 37af7 



4 39 7 



40 

 42 

 43 

 45 

 46 



44 

 6 



: ; 



51 



IS 



sets 

 49 a! 8 



2 



26 

 27 

 28 



3 52 



3 53 



3 53 



3 53 



3 53 



132 

 133 

 134 

 135 

 136 

 137 

 138 



StaEonoLOoY of the WEEX.-At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-six years the average highest .and lowest 

 temperatures of these davsare 64.5' and 41.4= respectively. The greatest heat, 86'. occurred on tne loth and l.th, m ISS* ; and the .owest 

 cold, 25% on the 15th, in 1850. During the period 147 days were fine, and on 100 rain ielL 



I 



ORNAMENTAL LEAVES FOE GARNISHING 

 THE DESSERT. 



way of business 

 -without having 

 the proper ma- 

 terials necessary to carry on their various operations. 



What, for instance, can be more tantalising to a gar- 

 dener than to sit down and read, " So-and-so " is ad- 

 mirably adapted for such a purpose, and "'such and 

 such " will give a charming effect to "so-and-so," when 

 at the same time, perhaps, the chief in command has 

 little if any of the things recommended ? This, then, 

 being a good time to procure seeds or plants from which 

 ornamental leaves can be obtained, a list of the plants 

 which have been used here with good effect may not be 

 out of place. 



Eirst, then, I would recommend all gardeners to secure 

 a good supply of the Poinsettia piilcherrima : indeed 

 it is almost an impossibility to have too much of this 

 truly useful plant. Having ourselves last season upwards 

 of two hundred plants we found that we were not en- 

 cumbered with one too many. The richness which the 

 scarlet bracts of this plant give to almost any kind of 



I have no doubt that many additions might be made to 

 this enumeration ; but with the above and a tolerably 

 good supply of Eem fronds. Ivy, Moss, and similar 

 green materials, a very fair show can be made. 



"When very large dishes are used on which a miscel- 

 laneous collection of fruit is required, some of the follow- 

 ing may be employed with good effect -. — Gourds, of which 

 there are many very ornamental kinds admirably adapted 

 for the purpose : one or two Tomatoes, Capsicums, Shad- 

 docks, and Oranges with a leaf or two attached ; and the 

 Pyracantha, Cotoneaster, Berberis, and Cape Gooseberry 

 are also useful in their way for smaller dishes. Most 

 gardeners have access to fruit and flower shows, and yet 

 tew see any other arrangement of the dessert than that 

 for which they have to provide. 



I have noticed manv times, and not without a consi- 

 derable amount of grief, bunch after bunch of Grapes 

 piled up one above the other in order to gain height ; but 

 thenecessarysup- why should the gardener be at all the trouble and anxiety 

 plv when wanted. ' of obtaining fine and weil-bloomed bunches of Grapes, part 

 The cook as well ,. of which are to be hidden from view I Cannot some of our 

 as the hardener great china-dish manufacturers produce something more 

 would be of but j light and elegant on which to affix bunches of Grapes ? 

 little use in their ■ Surely something of a branch-like form could be invented 

 with, say, four or eight branches from a centre stem ; 

 Grapes suspended from the ends of these branches, would 

 I am sure, have a more natural and elegant appearance, 

 and the attainment of that great point in Grape-growing 

 — viz., securing a fine bloom, would be much more en- 

 couraged. — Jony Pebkixs, Thornham Sail. Suffolk. 



j^I EST 

 > catch the 

 hare and 

 then cook it," is 

 an old adage. The 

 gardener must 

 conform to the 

 rule by first pro- 

 curing seeds and 

 plants, and then 

 cultivating them 

 in order to have 



FORTHCOMING NOTELTLES. 

 I have no wish to be classed with weather prophets, 

 and racing prophets, and that numerous tribe of prog- 

 nosticators and clairvoyants who are very bold in their 

 assertions generally, but would rather not be held to 

 anv particular utterance that may test their powers too 

 closely. There are always little disturbing causes, as 

 Admiral Fitzroy calls them — little ifs, which, inconsider- 

 able as they seem to be, do most marvellously interfere 

 with all our calculations ; and even when we have the 

 apparent safe ground of past experience to guide us, 

 make them not to be depended upon. Of this a trifling 

 instance occurred to me only yesterday. Amongst the 

 fruit can scarcely be conceived, especially if arranged on Terbenas I received last year from many quarters, there 

 white china and a few Fern fronds intermixed. Next in \ was a continental one named l'Avenir de Biliaut, which 

 importance are the beautiful crimson leaves of the Bar- struck me as being particularly worthy of general eulri- 

 barossa and West's St. Peter's Grape Tines; we find Ovation. This opinion was shared by my friend andneigh- 

 that these latter produce prettier foliage when grown in i bour, Mr. Banks, of Sholden, to whom I gave some cut- 



pots. Coleus Versehaffeiti and Ampelopsis hederacea 

 (Virginian Creeper), also produce pretty foliage ; also 

 Copper Beech, Mahonia aquifolia. Begonia Lowii, and other 

 varieties. Caladium : of this tribe there are some kinds 

 very pretty and exceedingly useful, especially the small- 

 leaved varieties. Some kinds of Pear leaves are very 

 ornamental in the autumn months. Centaurea and Cine- 

 raria maritima will give a somewhat frosted-silver appear- 

 ance and make a nice contrast to high-coloured leaves. 

 So. 111. — Toi. IV., Xew Szbtks. 



tings, as he was anxious to grow it for seeding from. 



He" has this spring several plants of it, and they have 

 I sent up the most miserable trusses possible, and in its 



present state no one would desire to grow it. But this, 

 ! again, mav be an exceptional state, and it may by-and-by 

 ! come to its former fine condition. It is an instance, 

 1 however, of the extreme dimculty of forming decided 



opinions, especially on yearling flowers, and ought to 



moderate both our praise and censure. 



Xo. 763. — Toi. XXIX., Old Sseies. 



